


Boxer

by muse_of_mbaku



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Reader-Insert, limited dialouge, reader insert of color
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:49:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22915774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muse_of_mbaku/pseuds/muse_of_mbaku
Summary: A short series about Boxer!Baku
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Recommended Listening: Retrograde by James Blake

You found him hunched over a bench in the center the locker room, his broad back the first thing you saw as you entered. It was covered in sweat, the beginnings of bruises starting to come to the surface of his skin. Anger shot through you at the memory of the other fighter clinging to him, his hands gouging and gripping into the muscle and flesh of the man you loved. You’d stood as close to the ring as you could and shouted words that would have made heat flush in your cheeks had it been any other place.

Lingering in the doorway of the room, you knew M’Baku had heard the approach of your heels. The sound of them still echoed and bounced off the far corners of the room. He wouldn’t turn to face you. You knew that he wouldn’t. It was always like this, those tense moments when he was doing everything he could to tuck in the beast and become the man the both of you knew he was. You noted the exaggerated rise of his shoulders as he sucked in air and then the slow dropping as it let it expel from his lungs.

“You did good out there,” you offered.

He grunted in response, the noise deep and shaky. “Should have been a knockout in round three.”

It should have been, but you knew why it had not. Sympathy. Fear. Regret. He was imposing, towering above all he faced, but he was still a man with honor. One that didn’t want to internalize the mangled faces and bodies of his opponents. So he held back for as long as he could until something in him let go and before long he’d be standing heaving and victorious over all that challenged him.

“36-0 now,” you said proudly as you finally approached.

You crouched before him, your fingers gliding across the faint blood and bruises scattering his perfectly handsome face.

“A few more rounds and the debt is repaid. ‘Til then, my warrior, we keep going.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommended Listening: Let Me Down by Jorja Smith

You hated this place. Hated the way the air smelled of chemicals masked with sweetness to allegedly make them more tolerable. You hated the sound of air being forced through tubes and into lungs. Hated the way the hallways seemed empty, but the energy within them was heavy. But more than anything, you hated the thin curtain separating you from M’Baku.

Behind it, you could hear what he was trying to hide. Pain. It was everywhere in his voice and even if he was speaking with barely controlled anger, you could tell it was taking everything in him not to shutdown as it spiked through him. It had been an hour and you were still on the other side of the worn cotton with watchful eyes stopping you from moving.

You threw a sidelong glance over your shoulder and glared at the man who had looped his body into a chair long ago and hadn’t moved. He looked unfazed by the heat of your eyes. You knew that beyond him, and just behind a set of swinging doors, were two more and then another three staked out near the main entrance. Even if you were able to get to M’Baku, making it out of the hospital would be more than a fight. It would be impossible. Neither of you were superheroes no matter how many men had fallen at your love’s feet.

Just as your patience was reaching zero, and you were contemplating swiping the curtain to the side to simply lay eyes on M’Baku, it moved to the side and you came face to face with him. He swung his legs over the gurney and rose gingerly, closing the distance between you in only a few steps. One arm, wrapped securely around his torso and a grimace as he moved let you know he was cracked in more ways than one. 

M’Baku reached down, cupping his free hand at the nape of your neck and pulled you close. He regarded you for a moment before dipping to press his lips to yours. He lingered there for a moment as if trying to reconnect with the world. He mumbled against your mouth a litany that it was all over, refusing to break contact until a clearing throat broke the haze of the kiss.

Your watcher had risen and sauntered his way behind you. His presence was a damper on your reunion causing M’Baku to rise to his full height and shift you behind him. You placed a palm to his shoulder as anchor for the both of you.

“That’s it. $300,00 repaid,” M’Baku growled. “No more fights.”

The watcher chuckled.

“I’m not sure you get to decide that, boss. The one who does is almost here.”

M’Baku took an angry step forward to the amusement of the other man. Your grip on his arm thankfully held him place.

“We wait because we can’t make it out of here whole,” you whispered behind him.

You felt his shoulders sag, both of you not knowing just how deep this hole went.


End file.
